Thursday, May 7, 2009

Synchronicity

Serious Cuteness at Poppy & Ivy

Lately a whole bunch of seemingly disparate things have been coming together for me. Ultimately, they all point back to the health of the planet, whether they originate with the health of our children, our economy, our neighborhoods.

One of the ways this has manifested is in my neighborhood. There's a little cluster of shops at the end of my street, and lately I've been worried about them. On the one hand, I'm so glad they're there as opposed to some chain or fast food joint. But the truth is, I haven't been supporting them nearly enough. If they went out of business in this tough economy, I'd be one of many to bear the blame.

So, recently I've taken to showing up. I didn't have any particular agenda when I started other than to be there in some way to support these (mostly) women. And then great things just started happening. At Poppy & Ivy I found the perfect little box to complete the sewing kit I'm putting together for Anna's 4th birthday. And I found a really sweet, unique copy of The Three Bears, which I'd been telling Anna but we hadn't ever read yet.

And, most important, I started connecting. I spoke with Amy, the shop's owner, about my bags and skirts and she mentioned that the Michaela, who owns Sofia next door (seriously gorgeous, handmade clothing), has organized a monthly sidewalk sale and that, for a $10 fee (to cover advertising), I could set up a table. And, by the way, if I didn't have a table she'd be happy to have me use one of hers — and wouldn't her ironing board be a cute display for my things? (I'll be at the June 12th event! Come say hi!)

And then I learned about The 3/50 Project, which explains just how you can help support your little neighborhood stores.

I really feel like this is the time to start doing the work to take our planet back, one little piece at a time. In the next few months, I'll be talking a lot more about the ways I'm trying to put my time, money, and energy where my mouth is with all of this. Please join me. Let me know what you're doing. I really believe that it is an extremely critical time for change.

P.S. I know I keep harping on commenting, but it's still not taking. If you liked this post, if you have something to share, please try to do so here in the comments, where others can benefit from it. I know you have to sign in, but once you've done that you can just set your preferences to "Remember Me" and you won't have to do it again. See? So easy! ;-)